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Newest Faculties-in-Residence See Role as Critical to Student Success

September 18, 2012-Houston-

Bicycles sit propped against the living room
wall. Children’s art adorns the
refrigerator. In the corner are stacks
of board games watched closely by two pet frogs in a glass tank. This image of family life could be anywhere in
Houston, but it’s happening at the Moody North Tower student residence hall at
the University of Houston.

“Students
in college for the first time will need support and encouragement as they learn
the skills that will help them succeed at the university,” said Imani Goffney,
assistant professor of curriculum and instruction at the UH College of Education. She is a new faculty-in-residence, living
with her husband, Brian, and two daughters in the residence hall. “The way we
see our roles is to be a resource to all the residents in North Tower, to help
them be successful in school.”

Goffney
and her family will stay in the residence hall for a year. Through regular
interaction, educational and fun activities, the Goffneys aim to be visible
reminders to students that everything students do is about their academic
success. Students have responded,
seeking them out (calling them “Dr. G” and “Mr. Brian”) with questions about
their majors, approaching their professors and developing study habits.

Goffney’s
husband, Brian, a social worker for adolescents and teens and a UH alum (and
former resident of Moody North Tower), agrees.

“The
goal is to create community,” he said. “Many of the students have never lived
away from home, but now are meeting people from around the world. They need
help transitioning, not only from an academic perspective, but from a life
perspective.”

The
Faculty-in-Residence program began in 2010 with faculty moving into the student
residences at Moody Towers, Cougar Village and the Calhoun Lofts. Lyle McKinney, assistant professor in the
College of Education, is the newest resident of Law Hall in the Quadrangle
residences. His research interest
includes the effective management of colleges and universities and how that
translates to student success. One area
he will focus on during his tenure as a faculty-in-residence concerns sophomore
students.

“A
lot of programs are designed for freshmen, but sometimes, as an institution, we
tend to forget about the sophomores,” he
said. ‘With retention and graduation
rates being such an important issue, our goal is to design a program that
provides UH sophomores with the tools and resources they need to succeed.”

Working with the UH department of student
affairs, McKinney first will examine services provided to freshman and compare
that to what is provided to sophomores.
The idea is in its infancy and McKinney says some programs may already exist
on campus to serve this population. He
envisions a checklist for sophomores to keep them focused on moving ahead:
meeting with advisers a certain number of times per year, taking a career
assessment test to help them identify an appropriate major and becoming engaged
in campus activities or study groups.

“There’s been more research lately about
sophomore students because of data that shows the proverbial ‘sophomore slump’
often leads to departure from the institution,” he said. “I want to look at our
UH data and see what are the factors that may contribute to them leaving and see what we can do to help.”

He’s
hopeful the Faculty-in-Residence program will be part of the solution.

“Learning isn’t confined to the
classroom. For me, the in between spaces
of the cafeteria or the laundry room or the gym are opportunities for
conversations that can help students learn and grow. I’m there to be a
resource.”